Summary:Spelunky is a unique platformer with randomized levels that offer a new and challenging experience each time you play! Journey deep underground and explore fantastic places filled with monsters, traps, and treasure. Fully-destructible environments open up lots of strategies and make it aSpelunky is a unique platformer with randomized levels that offer a new and challenging experience each time you play! Journey deep underground and explore fantastic places filled with monsters, traps, and treasure. Fully-destructible environments open up lots of strategies and make it a blast to master the game's many secrets.…Expand

Spelunky is finally available on PlayStation platforms and there is plenty of reason to be happy about that. This hard as nails platformer will have you clutching your controller in a choke hold due to random levels and a healthy dose of trial and error. [October 2013 p.94]

Spelunky is the roguelike equivalent of training wheels attached with only one turn of the screw. It’s a great way to ease into the genre and a worthwhile entry in its field, but immediately following that “I think I got it!” moment, you’ll quickly be left having to keep upright on your own.

There's an intolerable amount of framedrops on the Vita and the thin line between challenge and frustration is crossed more than once, but these are minor flaws when compared to what Spelunky gets right. This addictive platform game has finally found its way to the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Vita, and that is definitely a cause for celebration.

With games often lasting five minutes or less, you don’t feel like you’ve lost a lot when you inevitably cark it. While the familiarity you gain with the opening world does get frustrating – you spend a lot of time there – there’s a one-more-go compulsiveness to Spelunky that leaves you chasing more gold than Jr (they called the dog Indiana).

Spelunky is a well-designed game, ideal for a gamer who loves platformers and variety. However, it is a rogue-like platformer with randomised levels, and gamers looking for constant progress or easy rewards will not find them here.

TLDR: This game is fun, not masochistic, just difficult, it demands trial and error but you won't be repeating the same level over and over,TLDR: This game is fun, not masochistic, just difficult, it demands trial and error but you won't be repeating the same level over and over, each level is randomly generated with you starting on the top and the exit near the bottom, all that stands between you is terra firma, Gold, Damsels, and things out to kill you.

This game has a Demo, and I highly recommend it.
Also, this game is NOT for those who don't appreciate death as a learning experience.

People have called it Dark Souls, the Platformer, and it fits that bill with a bit of it's own flair,
this game is truly difficult and gets immediately harder after you're out of the first World (Mines)

If you're still reading, and the thought of an extreme, randomly generated platformer that is in no way unfair, excites you, give this a shot, as I said, please try the demo first, don't waste your money if you're not into it, it gives you the tutorial, some characters, and the first world to try, you will die lots and you will know it's your own fault, but that knowledge will make you want to try again.

And that's the meme of this game, trying again. You will WANT to, getting to the end with hearts, money, and items feels good. The platforming is fun, I love destructible environments, there are lots of traps, sneaky enemies, and vases you cannot entirely trust ever (Pick them up and throw them, they may contain enemies)

I wasn't into this game at first, I tried and I tried and I'd keep dying at the 3rd or before leaving the 4th, but you learn. The controls are tight, you don't feel like you were cheated by a death you weren't anticipating unless you didn't know that enemy would explode after you killed it.. :p

It really grows on you, what I like most is that the game requires both Patience and Fast Reflexes which is a little odd, most games don't ask for both like this one, it really treats you like an Adult, it was not designed to hold your hand because it lets the game speak for itself.

I also like that you can beat the game in around 30 minutes
Good F***ing luck doing that though because in Spelunky, just like Dark Souls, this game's Tagline should be:

"You Will Die."

Graphics: Sharp on the Vita, colors look better on it than my monitor, but no great surprise.
Every character is well animated for what can be expected with 2D. Explosions, blood, rock, they all tumble and fall away with gamephysics, everything looks good, it reminds me of remastered SNES Platformers.

Gameplay: This is the meat of the game since the story is user generated more or less, and if permadeath gameplay does not deter you and you like platformers, this will be fun. The whip reminds me of Castlevania (Bats make an annoying Cameo..lol)
Each level is 2 1/2 minutes long or so, if you wait longer.. bad stuff happens, and this makes the game progress far without eating up a lot of time, when you know the game and take your time, you will do well.
Content feels right for the money, you can find out plenty of what Spelunky is like through Youtube videos or trying the Demo, but I also want to highlight the COOP mode and the Deathmatches (With Bots! Even in Demo!)

COOP Mode: Haven't tried it yet (Later, hopefully) but if you have a PS3 and a Vita, there is Crossplay that works brilliantly, you each can have your own screen and no need to stay together as a result. This was definitely one of the driving factors behind my purchase because my GF and I like playing platformers and anything with easily accessible multiplayer gets a thumbs up.

DeathMatch mode: This.. is like a fast paced bomberman from a different perspective. In the demo there are only a few maps and the bots are maniacs but there is fast paced fun to be had, in the full version there are a LOT of levels and you can play with a different map each round if you choose random. I expect it to be a lot of fun with 3/4 people since people are a bit more tactical and less likely to bomb everything to smithereens :p (maybe) But I really like that this mode is here and bots can be enabled I should also mention, you can change the amount of bombs/ropes you spawn with too.

Story: You make it up as you adventure, this game provides you with a lot of atmosphere and that gives everything you do an impact to you because you know you're progressing and that death and boomerangs are right around the corner. The goal is, of course, some legendary treasure, I've already seen the ending on Youtube runs and it didn't stop me from wanting it :p

Replayability: That's this game! Random gen is always a new experience and I hear there are all sorts of secrets hidden throughout the game, even secret levels and areas. Each place gives you new enemies and new challenges. Because you build yourself every time you play, you already know the name of the game and collecting your fave items doesn't get old.

Conclusion:

I'm not going to give this game a Score but I will say that if you like the Demo even a little bit, keep playing it, and when you get to the end of the Demo, you can decide on your own if pressing X to Unlock the Full game is worth it... But I gotta say, the buildup from all my deaths, and finally after a couple hours of play, making it to the end of the Mines, well, I bought it because my desire to continue was so great. I'm hoping it'll be the same for you …Expand

Dark Souls of 2D platformers. Don't let the infantile visual style fool you, this is purely hardcore, truly uncompromising and ultraDark Souls of 2D platformers. Don't let the infantile visual style fool you, this is purely hardcore, truly uncompromising and ultra challenging experience. Yes, this game can be finished in under 10 minutes, but in reality it might take you about 30 hours until you master Spelunky well enough to be able to finish this. You will die again and again (by the end my death count was over 500), but you will keep playing until you beat this monster. The only minor complaint is totally glitched trophy function on PS3 version. 10/10…Collapse

Like the PC counterpart, this game is purely gimmick. Sure, if you look online for stuff that's impossible to know otherwise, you'll find thatLike the PC counterpart, this game is purely gimmick. Sure, if you look online for stuff that's impossible to know otherwise, you'll find that there are some funny monsters you might never see no matter how many time you play. But the game simply is not fun at all, there are numerous game which use death as a learning experience while doing it way more interestingly, better or with more interest. In this game, you can literally play over a hundred time without the game even changing.…Expand